Phobias
A fear of sharks
in a land locked state
Imagine that if you will
A girl who’s never seen the ocean
Never felt saltwater in her hands
Fearing a monster
that lives primarily in water
Gnashing teeth
Surely stopped
by the miles of land
between her
and the ocean
Yet still
she curls in bed
lamp lit
to prevent
whatever sea creatures
may come in the dead of night
Maybe you’ll understand
the fear of loud noises
a stress reaction
brought on
by a childhood
of emotional bombshells
booming in her ears
and every time
the school bell rings
another bomb goes off
inside her head
but maybe bombs exploding
in a child’s mind
are a little too real to laugh
so let’s focus on the sharks
and tell her
There’s really
nothing to fear at all